Comprehensive Impacts of Trump’s Second Year: World
This publication is meant to be a comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the Trump administration. There are many things that happened during the campaign that are not included. For this series covering the second year, impacts from about January 20, 2018, to January 31, 2019, are included. An introduction to this year’s series is here.
You can read the complete series on the first year of the administration here.
There are sure to be things missing, but I have done my best to record these impacts. The impacts are compiled under 20 different categories, or articles:
1. Cabinet and Other Appointments;
3. Women & Families;
4. LBGT;
6. Ethics;
7. Targeting free press/free speech/Privacy;
8. Health & Safety;
10. Education;
11. Transportation/Infrastructure/Housing;
12. Immigration;
13. Social Contract;
14. Business/Economy;
15. Budget;
16. General Governance;
17. Character;
19. World; and
20. Some good news. Because there is always some good news.
Since this series takes a long time to write, I will publish each section as I complete it. This article is on Trump’s character.
Although we have moved on from Trump’s dark ages with the 2020 election, I will attempt to complete this entire series because it’s so important that we never forget the damage done to millions of people, the fabric of the country, and basic democracy by the Trump administration.
World
As The Economist noted, Trump “treats every relationship as a set of competitive transactions.” His entire foreign policy strategy “starts from false premises” and was correctly predicted to spread anarchy and hostility around the globe as his “zero-sum outlook is destined to lead to antagonism and rivalry.” When he wasn’t busy insulting world leaders, Trump worked to isolate the US from them. France’s ambassador to the US called Trump’s presidency the coming of “a new world disorder” and noted how the US had resigned its role a “a last resort enforcer of international order.”
The entire world is impacted by not only Trump’s policies, but also his juvenile tweets. So much so that US officials had to try to reassure global policy representatives at an international conference in Germany by telling them to pay no attention to Trump’s Twitter rants. Trump often confuses countries in those rants, too. He described a phone call he had with the South Korean president as being someone from North Korea, as just one example. Even though intelligence agencies informed Trump that North Korea was seeking to retain its weapons of mass destruction and was unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons, Trump repeated multiple times that North Korea was going to give up its nuclear weapons. North Korea also stated that was not the case. Trump’s policy initiatives on Iran also directly contradicted intelligence reports.
Trump also continued his quintessential Trumpian lies: “totally shameless, easily verifiable as false, and rooted in the notion that “many people” — who are never defined further, and who you’ll never be able to find — are telling the president something that he just happens to agree with himself.” When Trump falsely claimed that he had “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country” while rejecting the “ideology of globalism” at a United National General Assembly meeting, the audience of world leaders and foreign dignitaries laughed.
As his credibility deteriorated around the world, the US became a laughing stock and world leaders, as well as Wall Street and corporate America, collectively decided that the best way to deal with Trump was to ignore all of his “noise.”
As former Georgian and Moldovan advisor Molly McKew pointed out, “Trump is doing lasting damage to the global order that made the US a superpower” as he “radically reorders the alliances the world has relied on and abandons the values that underpinned those alliances.” The prevailing sentiment in Europe was that it’s a mistake for Europe to rely on the US under Trump. This was underlined by Trump skipping the Paris Peace Forum then the WWI commemoration because it was too rainy. One writer commented how Trump’s actions in Paris was a “stunning abdication of global leadership,” going on to write, “[A]ny other American president would have felt compelled to repair and strengthen” the union between the US and the EU, and “If there were any doubts that President Trump understands little about his mission, and cares even less, this trip dispelled them once and for all.” Germany’s foreign minister said, “Europe must not let itself be divided however sharp the verbal attacks and absurd the tweets may be.” In fact, Trump’s isolationism and “America First” approach strained alliances and forced foreign partners to seek new relationships.
Later, Trump also skipped the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and event hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore. One writer noted, “We could well be entering a free-for-all era of foreign policy. The assumption seems to be that if no one at home will tell the emperor he has no clothes, then why should those looking on from the outside?”
Trump was deeply unpopular across the globe, with 70 percent of survey respondents from 25 countries saying they did not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing. In comparison, 62 percent said the same about former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. Thanks to Trump, attitudes toward the US as a whole were at historic lows around the world with many people saying that their own country’s diplomatic relationship with the US had grown worse under Trump.
· Regarding North Korea, after the country returned one of many political prisoners who died within a few days, Trump called Kim Jong Un a “smart” and “funny” guy who “loves his people” and predicted that they would have a “terrific relationship.”
· While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described discussions with North Korea as “productive,” North Korea described the talks as “betraying the spirit” of the meeting and “regrettable.”
· Because of Trump’s tariffs and aggressive rhetoric against China, the Chinese government broke it’s long track record of having successful port visits and denied a request for the US warship USS Wasp to stop in Hong Kong.
· Trump neglected to appoint ambassadors to 26 countries around the world, including important allies such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and South Korea.
· The ambassadors we do have aren’t making it very long. Trump’s ambassador to Mexico left after Trump increased tensions between the US and Mexico due to Trump’s inflammatory and derogatory language about Mexicans and Mexico. And the ambassador to Estonia, a career diplomat and member of the senior foreign service ranks, resigned in disgust over Trump’s anti-EU and anti-NATO rants that are damaging to the nation and the world.
· Trump did appoint an ambassador to South Africa: A handbag designer who is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club with zero diplomatic experience.
· After Nikki Haley left as US Ambassador to the United Nations, Trump appointed a former Fox “news” host. Trump wanted a loyal person willing to defend him no matter what.
· Pakistan had to summon its US envoy when Trump publicly falsely claimed that Pakistan harbored Osama bin Laden — and later doubled down on these assertions — even though Pakistan provided the intelligence leading the US to bin Laden.
· Without giving any notice to anyone, Trump downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s delegation to the United States from member state to international organization, demoting the ambassador to Washington who had been in the position since 2014.
· The president of the World Bank, appointed by President Obama in 2012, resigned before his term was up. Trump appointed David Malpass to lead the World Bank, a loyalist who had historically criticized the bank.
· Trump is not only hostile to NATO, but also the World Trade Organization, a cornerstone and foundation of resolving international trade disputes built with the help of the US after WWII. Threatening to disrupt the global economy, Trump had a tantrum and threatened to pull out of the WTO if it “didn’t treat the US better.” Under Trump, the US also began blocking judicial appointments to the WTO. Trump complained that the US was treated unfairly even though the WTO found in favor of the US in 91 percent of cases the country brought forward.
· Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton also blasted the International Criminal Court as “dangerous” and threatened other countries assisting the ICC in investigations of Americans, stating that the US would “take note” of other countries’ cooperation with the ICC and “will remember that cooperation when settling US foreign assistance, military assistance, and intelligence sharing levels.”
· One senior UN judge resigned because of “shocking political interference” from the Trump administration when the US threatened other judges when they tried to investigate US soldiers’ conduct in Afghanistan.
· When more than 50 countries, 130 private sector groups, and 90 charitable groups and universities signed onto a global cybersecurity pact, Russia, China, and the United States refused.
· Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal, isolating the US from our allies and bringing uncertainty to a risky nuclear negotiation with North Korea.
· Trump also pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed by Reagan and Gorbachev to ban missiles. The UN Secretary General warned that “an invaluable brake on nuclear war” was being lost and that this will heighten threats posed by ballistic missiles. With the treaty lost, Russia immediately announced that it was considering establishing a military base in Cuba.
· In a polarizing and short-sighted move, Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, inciting an already violent situation regarding protests in Gaza. At that embassy opening, Trump appointed Pastor Robert Jeffress to lead a prayer. Jeffress is an evangelical who has said that Jews are going to hell and that Hitler was a part of God’s plan. Turns out, the new embassy cost nearly 100 times more than what Trump publicly claimed it would cost.
· After Israeli forces killed 62 Palestinians, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations spoke at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza. When he began to speak, US representative Nikki Haley got up and walked out of the room.
· Trump then cut off all US funding for the United Nation’s program for Palestinian refugees. He also severely decreased funding from USAID for programs based in Gaza that help tens of thousands of people in the area. This was partly in an attempt to eliminating rights of Palestinians to reclaim property in Israel that they or their ancestors were forced to leave.
· Trump also cut funding already approved by Congress to all programs that bring together Israelis and Palestinians, called co-existence programs. Programs included things like joint soccer games, farming efforts, and other reconciliation projects. This move was seen as Trump’s failure at diplomacy. As one Congressional aide said, “This is not a partisan view. It’s the view of those who recognize that you don’t advance the cause of peace by cutting off programs that are designed to promote tolerance, understanding and address shared problems.”
· Trump also pulled the US out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), even though the US was a founding member. UNESCO’s goal is to promote peace through international cooperation in endeavors of education, science, and culture, including preserving more than 1,000 world heritage sites.
· He was not finished with the UN. The US was the only country in the world to block a resolution by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which had been created to help the millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes during WWII. Trump didn’t like that the resolution called for limiting the length of detention of asylum seekers.
· In an unprecedented move, Trump officials banned health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from helping in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the largest Ebola outbreak broke out.
·Trump also withdrew the US from the 144-year-old international postal treaty, which covers 192 countries and allows people in those countries to send letters and packages to each other. This was yet another Trump Tantrum over trade with China. Thankfully, after emergency talks the following year, The US agreed to stay.
· Trump wanted to impose a total ban on importing German cars such as Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volkswagen. This occurred when Republicans did the rare thing of pushing back against Trump and his tariff proposals.
· Speaking of Germany, Trump’s ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell stated he wanted to use his office to help far-right nationalists inspired by Trump to take power across Europe.
· At the G-7 Summit, Trump called for Russia to be readmitted and blamed President Obama for Russia’s aggression in Crimea. No doubt Putin was pleased with his puppet.
· Trump skipped the climate change and environmental portion of the G-7 Summit, “questioning why he would attend a G7 meeting where he’s outnumbered” after having a Twitter spat with President Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau. He later tried to intimidate the world leaders into following what he says over Twitter.
· Thanks to the public threats, Trump forced a combative tone for the entire summit. He then refused to sign the closing statement with other countries, tweeting about it while flying away.
· Later, the White House stated that “there was a special place in hell” for Trudeau and that Trudeau had “stabbed the US in the back.” The Canadian foreign affairs minister was the grown up in the room and stated, “Canada does not believe that ad hominem attacks are a particularly appropriate or useful way to conduct our relations with other countries.”
· A high-stakes trade negotiation between Canada and the US ended dramatically when Trump’s comments about being unwilling to negotiate and that any deal would have to be “totally on our terms” were leaked. A deal was eventually reached.
· Also at the meeting, Trump stated that he was going to “ship 25 million Mexicans to Japan” so Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would lose his next election.
· Trump implemented a Muslim travel ban, keeping a Yemini mother from seeing her dying 2-year-old son in California.
· Trump also was the only one at the G-20 who refused to re-affirm the Paris Climate Agreement.
· When meeting with Shinzo Abe, Trump suddenly blurted out, “I remember Pearl Harbor” and then started ranting to the Japanese prime minister. The meeting reportedly left Abe feeling “exasperated.”
· While trying to give Russia a leg up on the world’s stage, the US quit the United National Human Rights Council. Nikki Haley accused the council of being “biased” for wanting to investigate Israel’s alleged use of excessive force in Gaza.
· It’s no wonder Trump didn’t want to be part of the Human Rights Council. Trump stopped cooperating with — or even responding to — UN investigators about human rights violations occurring inside the United States.
· Going back to Russia, Trump “gleefully defied the norms of presidential behavior” and publicly “accepted the explanation of a hostile foreign leader over the findings of his own intelligence agencies,” declaring that he saw no reason to not believe Putin when he said Russians did not try to fix the 2016 election. As writer Mark Landler wrote,
Rather than defend the United States against those who would threaten it, he attacked his own citizens and institutions. Rather than challenge Mr. Putin, an adversary with a well-documented record of wrongdoing against the United States, he praised him without reservation.
· After siding with Putin over worldwide intelligence, Trump was described as “weak,” “a poodle,” and “a stooge” across Europe. A Le Monde editorial read, “In this bad reality TV sequence, Donald Trump has been reduced to the role of a stooge.” El Mundo’s top headline read, “Trump surrenders to Putin after humiliating Europe.”
· When the House Intelligence Committee attempted to subpoena the American interpreter who was the only other person in the room with Trump and Putin. Republicans blocked it. They also blocked a resolution that would have lent support to the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia did, in fact, interfere in the 2016 election.
· Days after Trump’s meeting with Putin, Russia announced a new test of nuclear weapons with an “unlimited range” and a laser weapon system.
· A few months later, though, Trump’s US ambassador to NATO casually mentioned that the US might “take out” Russian missiles, implying they US was going to make a preemptive strike against Russia and creating severe diplomatic damage.
· After Trump suggested that Montenegro could cause WWIII in an attempt to discount NATO, the former president of parliament of Montenegro called Trump “the strangest president in the history of the United States” and said, “With this kind of president, with his knowledge of foreign policy, who knows what is going on? Foreign policy is not his big thing.”
· At a UN Security Council meeting that the US hosted, Bolivian President Evo Morales said to Trump, “In no way is the United States interested in upholding democracy” and stated that Trump’s treatment of other countries and immigrants is callous. He went on to point out,
The United States could not care less about human rights or justice. If this were the case, it would have signed the international conventions and treaties that have protected human rights. It would not have threatened the investigation mechanism of the International Criminal Court, nor would it promote the use of torture, nor would it have walked away from the Human Rights Council. And nor would it have separated migrant children from their families, nor put them in cages.
· Trump told British Prime Minister Theresa May that she should sue the EU rather than negotiate over Brexit.
· Also in the UK, far-right nationalists looked to Trump as a “role model” as they complained about “fake news” and how the white population is under threat from immigrants.
· In Nigeria, the military that was already known for human rights abuses credited Trump and his specific words to justify their fatally shooting protesters.
· Trump threatened Iranian President Rouhani over Twitter.
· Trump refused to investigate the extrajudicial murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi until he was required to after a letter from a bipartisan group of senators invoked the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Even after everyone knew that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia ordered Khashoggi’s murder inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey, Trump jumped to Saudi Arabia’s defense, saying that he will remain a “steadfast partner” with Saudi Arabia. When the CIA provided a report concluding that the crown prince was directly involved in the assassination, Trump lied to the public and Congress and said that the CIA did not come to a conclusion. Interestingly, at the same time, Saudi Arabia gave the US $100 million to help American aid efforts in Syria. Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo essentially told the Saudis that they can do whatever atrocity they want, including murdering a prominent American, as long as they’re generous to Trump and stoke Trump’s ego. This act also made clear that Trump sees international alliances as simply transactional.
· He also attempted to remove an exiled Turkish cleric living in the US in order to placate Turkey and convince Turkey to ease pressure on the Saudi government.
· During a call with the Turkish president, Trump had another tantrum when questioned about why US troops were still in Syria. Trump yelled, “You know what? It’s yours. I’m leaving.”
· Although his national security advisor and team explained to Trump why keeping troops in Syria was important, Trump stunned everyone around him when he tweeted that he was siding with the Turkish president and pulling out all troops from Syria.
· Trump was regarded as so dumb that the European Commission president reportedly used colorful cards with simplified explanations to try to discuss trade policies with Trump.
At the end of the day, Trump did incredible damage to the global standing of the United States. Not only did Americans believe Trump is ruining the country’s reputation, but experts warned that it could take years for the world to trust the US again as Trump continued to attack global institutions that played a fundamental role in rebuilding after WWII.
The next and last article for Year Two will be on some good news, because there’s always some good news.
